Public Defender May Block Successful Public Drunkenness Program

A highly successful program combating public drunkenness is being contested by San Francisco’s public defender, Jeff Adachi, who says it violates individuals’ rights. The program, which imposes actual consequences like jail time or addiction counseling for offenders, has been lauded by the police department as a way to reach the city’s chronic street inebriates.

You may also like:

6 Comments

Typical “progressive” claptrap. I would think that anyone with a modicum of compassion would be in support of doing something to get these folks off the streets, where there lives are in jeopardy, with the added benefit of allowing the rest of the citizenry to use public sidewalks without being harassed, or having to step over passed out lost souls.

Will you pleeease get your facts straight. Two of Adachi’s points in the SF Chronicle: “At 55, [Ray] Brown, a lifelong drinker, decided to change his life and seek treatment. Brown voluntarily checked himself into a detoxification center for 21 days, and made arrangements to be referred to a long-term treatment facility. The day before his appointment, Brown was arrested and jailed as a ‘chronic inebriate,’ despite being neither drunk nor homeless. He lost his opportunity to begin his treatment. A second man was recovering after open heart surgery. He hadn’t had a drink in over three months and was on the road to sobriety under his physician’s care. But he was arrested, labeled a chronic inebriate and thrown into jail.” Want to explain how this is “compassion,” Marco?

Yes I have read CW Nevius, Mayor Lee’s media front man/clown, and he, like you, just repeats misinformation in the faith that people will take it for truth. In your comment, you state that the person was picked up for “drunk in public” — the person in question was (as I stated, as Adachi stated, and as another official later stated in the Chronicle) not drunk. Sorry to have the facts get in your way.